Can't Take That Away
by kaly
Summary: Dig season ending for another year, it's time to pack up and go home. JP3 fic, post-movie. Alan/Billy.


Title: Can't Take That Away  
Author: kaly  
Rating: PG  
Word Count: 2075  
Characters/Pairing: Alan/Bily  
Category: angst-ish, smarm  
Warnings: none  
Spoilers: yes, minor  
Summary: Dig season ending for another year, it's time to pack up and go home.

Disclaimer: Billy, Alan, etc aren't mine, but Universal's.

Note: Haven't written in this fandom since 2001... which might be considered more of a warning than a note.  
Thank you to geminigrl11 for the beta.

My older JP3 fic is available at my webpage (see profile for link).

Can't Take That Away

The time after all of the students and volunteers left for the season was always strange. For once, the dig wasn't ending due to a threatened budget, but rather classes were starting, and winter would soon follow. Come spring the site would be alive once more, but it was still strange in the meantime. Because for the moment it was quiet and still, with everything put away and the dinosaurs sleeping undisturbed.

Hearing a thump from the direction of the lone remaining trailer, the noise followed by muffled cursing, Alan smiled. Besides Alan, Billy still remained. Chaos might follow Malcolm - and the farther that stayed from Alan's structured world the better - but an energy all his own followed Billy, and Alan was continually drawn toward its light.

He sighed softly, knowing the following weeks and months would mean returning to academia - teaching and grading and, far more importantly, studying the yields of the dig. It wasn't so much that Alan disliked those aspects of his career - indeed, the only thing he truly disliked were the tours - but they paled in comparison to having his hands in the dirt.

Dusk had fallen, and a glance skyward revealed the first of the evening stars to appear. Yet another thing he would miss when they were back in civilization. Tomorrow morning, they would secure the trailer and double-check the dig, before heading back.

Billy had a final semester of classes - both to teach and take - before all that remained was his dissertation, and Alan knew he was likely to see very little of the younger man once he buckled down to finish.

After spending the season together, hardly apart, it should feel like a welcome reprieve - Alan was never one for close ties and constant attention. _Should_.

Another noise, followed by an even louder curse, and he laughed softly. He didn't know exactly when it had begun, but _normal_ hadn't applied to Billy for a long time. Even since before the island, and certainly not since. Alan was going to miss this.

The sun finally disappeared completely, the day's heat already beginning to leach away. Staring off into space Alan smothered a smile, fingers unconsciously tracing the side of his throat, imagining he could still feel an entirely different kind of heat there from the night before.

Resituating his hat on his head, Alan shoved his hands in his pockets, deciding he had woolgathered long enough. It was time to give up on stargazing and fretting, and go help with the chores that were apparently confounding Billy.

It wasn't a long walk, and the closer he came, the more he could make out of the rambling sentences and muttered curses. Only on the most stressful days did it cease to amuse him that Billy, when distracted, thought with his mouth.

Thinking out loud was far from the only thing he did with his mouth that amused or entertained, Alan had to admit. He wouldn't admit it where his lover could hear, mind - Billy would never let him hear the end of it.

The door was open, light spilling out, and Alan leaned against the jamb, slightly taken aback at the chaos inside. He shook his head, reminding himself that it was only slightly worse than previous years, and that they would, somehow, still be ready to go in time the following day.

He must have been lost in thought, staring at Billy, longer than he realized, as the other man startled him by saying, "Penny for them."

The corner of his mouth tilting up in a smile, Alan shook his head. "Not worth that much, I'm afraid."

"Oh, I don't know." Billy dropped the box he had just sealed on top of a pile of similar containers, marking its contents on the top flap. He grinned, dimples flashing and looked at Alan through his eyelashes.

Alan couldn't help but stare briefly - he loved how Billy seemed to smile with his entire face. He always had, even before they had finally stopped dancing around one another. It reminded him how young Billy was, and more importantly, how alive. It was an important reminder, even still.

It had taken months before the nightmares of beaks and wings and blood had stopped tormenting him nightly, although he had never told Billy. And although Alan feared they would never leave him entirely, he knew the best possible cure was Billy curled around him each night.

"Might be to me," Billy said, shaking Alan from the dark thoughts.

He watched as Billy folded another box into shape, and taped the bottom, not ceasing in his work. There was another muttered curse, before Billy shoved a finger into his mouth. "Ouch," he muttered around the digit. "Damn cardboard cuts."

Ignoring the tightness in his chest at Billy's voice, knowing he was fine, Alan gestured toward the messy room. "Are we going to be ready to ship out tomorrow?"

Billy had the gall to look affronted, a melodramatic hand on his chest as he gestured toward the room with the other. "You doubt me?"

A flash of memory, a far different look but such a similar implication, and Alan froze, if only briefly. It was enough for Billy to see, however - he was always far too in tune with what Alan was thinking, even before Alan had become comfortable with the idea.

"Alan..." he began, his voice quiet, repentant.

The older man forced the dark thought away, not wanting to remember that time, or worse, force Billy to remember it. No, those were among the absolutely last things he wanted to do.

He found a grin somehow and shook his head. "The only thing I doubt, Billy, is your cleaning ability."

Rolling his eyes, Billy smirked and turned his attention back to the half-filled box. "_How _many years have I packed up the dig? We haven't been late yet."

Alan chuckled at the statement. It was true, but only just. And if he were being honest, it wasn't always Billy's fault when they had cut it close.

Watching Billy continue to pack, strong sure movements stretching the worn t-shirt and jeans the younger man wore, Alan felt a familiar curl of heat pool low in his stomach.

Oh yes, he was going to miss this - this seemingly unlimited quiet togetherness - during the next few months. Ellie would probably hurt herself laughing at the thought, given their history, if she wasn't so happy for them - for Alan, especially. And hadn't _that_ been an awkward conversation.

It did occur to him that if he was concerned about time, Alan could offer to help. Normally he would be in the thick of it, usually tackling a different room, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to move from the doorway, or stop watching Billy.

Obviously Billy had the same thought, for he asked, "You gonna stand there and stare all night, complaining randomly, or pitch in?" The sting was removed from the words by the fond grin Billy gave him as he said it.

"Perk of being the boss, Billy. I get to delegate."

"You mean order around and nitpick."

Alan shrugged, chuckling at the insubordinate words. "Semantics."

A mischievous light filling his eyes, Billy sealed the box he had been working on and turned toward Alan. A moment later, they were standing inches apart, breath mingling. Billy tugged on Alan's hat, pulling it away and dropping it onto the couch before ruffling Alan's hair lightly.

Amused, Alan quirked an eyebrow at the gesture. "Better now?"

"Much." Billy grinned, willfully. "I love your hat, but it hides your eyes."

Laughing, Alan wrapped an arm around Billy's waist, tugging until they were flush together. "Can't have that then, now can we?"

Shaking his head, Billy touched the side of Alan's throat with his fingertips, the same spot he had worried until Alan had feared he wake up looking like a teenager with a hickey. And wouldn't _that_ have been fun to explain. He hadn't, but the whisper soft contact made Alan shiver, even in the remains of the day's lingering heat.

Billy stared at Alan's throat, his eyes losing focus, before he blinked and they were clear once more. He sighed, wrapping his arms around Alan's waist and resting pressing their foreheads together. "This semester is going to _suck_."

The words ghosted across his face, warm and familiar, and Alan fought the urge to mirror Billy's sigh. It didn't surprise him that Billy shared his concerns. "Yeah."

Billy wormed a hand under the hem of Alan's shirts, pressing against his back. His fingers tracing formless patterns, the contact set Alan's skin on fire. Arching against the touch, Alan ran his own hand up Billy's arm, before tangling his fingers in the other man's hair. Absently, he ran one fingertip along a scar that was hidden there.

Eyes dark, Billy's gaze flickered from Alan's eyes to his mouth and back again. It was the only warning Alan had before Billy's mouth was on his. The kiss was reckless and a touch desperate, only ending when Alan was fraught for breath.

Leaning back, still breathing heavily, Billy smiled brightly. "After it's over, though..." It always impressed Alan how truly resilient his lover was, seemingly no matter the circumstances. "After it's over I'll have all the time in the world."

While the words sounded wonderful, he knew they weren't exactly honest. Smiling softly, he cupped Billy's cheek with his hand, tracing his thumb over the rise there. "After it's over, you'll be locked in your room, finishing your dissertation."

Expression falling, Billy nodded. "There is that. But after..."

Laughing, unable to help himself, Alan shook his head fondly. "Ever the optimist."

"Somebody has to be," Billy muttered, smirking unrepentantly. "And it's certainly not you."

"I prefer the word 'realist'."

He knew he was in trouble when Billy gave him a devilish grin. "Semantics."

Alan groaned, knowing he had walked right into that. Life with Billy was never boring, that was for certain.

"I love you," Billy said suddenly, before Alan could come up with a response to his earlier teasing. The words were whisper soft, but no less sincere for it. "And things will be fine. Busy beyond belief, but fine."

Throat burning, Alan swallowed and silently thanked whatever God or gods looked over foolhardy, brave young men, for Billy being in his life. Alan knew he could survive whatever life could throw at him - because he already _had_ and they were still here.

Everything else beyond what they had together were just the details.

For several moments they stood there, sharing the same breath, just content to be together. There was passion, no doubt, but there was calm and Alan wasn't sure which he craved more. He wasn't sure it mattered, as long as he had Billy with him in the end. And, realist or not, part of Alan believed he would be.

"I love you, too." Billy smiled at the words - they had certainly been long in coming the first time, and Billy had been remarkably patient. However, Alan couldn't help but add, "But we _have_ to get to work."

"Spoil sport," Billy replied, stubbornly meeting Alan volley for volley, as always.

Smirking, Alan shrugged. "I do try."

As he pulled away, Billy grabbed Alan's hand for a moment and pulled them close once more. Pressing his lips to Alan's ear, he whispered, "I left the blanket out, over by the tree. Horrible oversight on my part." Alan trembled when Billy worried the ear between his teeth. "Help me finish packing up and we can make sure it's not left behind."

Closing his eyes, aching, Alan forced himself not to take advantage of such an 'oversight' immediately. "I..." He coughed, voice caught in his throat. Somehow taking a step back, he stared into lust-darkened eyes and doubted his were any different. "I'd say we have a plan, then, Mr. Brennan."

"Then get to work, already," Billy growled, throwing a towel toward Alan before beginning to fill another box.

"Yes, sir." Alan smirked, throwing Billy a half-hearted salute. Billy laughed, returning it with a one-fingered salute of his own, which caused Alan to laugh.

It really was questionable who was in charge between them at any given moment. And amusingly enough, Alan knew he wouldn't have it any other way.

end


End file.
